one moment – Omni Homestead weddings – Sharon and Onkar

When photographing weddings, it’s very important to compose, look for moments, and see the light. It all came together this afternoon in a very simple image. The Omni Homestead hosted Sharon and Onkar’s wedding.  There were two ceremonies, a traditional Indian wedding in the morning, and a western ceremony in the afternoon. During the traditional Indian ceremony, I noticed this little one drifting off to sleep with the window light was perfectly cast on his face.  The gesture of the hands is an important component. You can see the tremendous detail on the hands along with the feel of a caring mother’s touch.

one moment – Omni Homestead Weddings – with Tina and Monte Durham from “Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta”

Tina had no idea that “Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta” host Monte Durham would surprise her when she put on her wedding dress this summer day.  She was told her husband-to-be, Adam, was sending her a gift. She immediately became concerned and said, “We agreed not to get each other a gift.  I didn’t get him anything.” I reassured her that it was something small and not to worry. We had her cover her eyes while we brought Mr. Durham into the room.  The is her reaction. She is such a big fan of the show and was absolutely thrilled to have that experience.

Tina grew up

one moment within Veritas Winery Weddings – Natalie and Andrew

My passion is to make photographs at every wedding that make the day unique.  Simply put, I’m looking for “the moment.” That one split second, captured with the camera, that won’t ever be repeated.  It might be the way the light is falling on a tear, a laugh, a touch of emotion, or that feeling within someone that resonates when looking at the photograph of the moment.  I want to be surprised and give my clients that piece of the day that isn’t planned or something they didn’t notice. All photographers capture images of the wedding couple in an embrace, kissing, processing, recessing, dancing, cutting the cake, and the details.  It’s all part of a wedding weekend and so important to capture. To compliment those images, I have to go after something more avant-garde, special and heartfelt. It’s what I crave every time I pick up the camera, whether it is an image of my daughter in the comfort of my own home or a wedding photograph at any one of the many exceptional locations world-wide.  Here is just one of those moments and the story behind it. There are more to come.

one moment – A Wedding at The Greenbrier

I absolutely love this photo-journalistic portrait that was taken just before Dawn processed down the aisle for her wedding at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs.  I was changing positions and noticed that she and her father were in beautiful lighting next to the door, both in tears. They are wrapped up in the moment.  To me, this is simply beautiful.  I love that she is seemingly unaware of the camera and he is unaffected by my presence.  Greenbrier weddings are simply stunning, as there is such a beautiful backdrop everywhere you turn.

one moment – Courtney and Kip – Omni Homestead

 

I love layering images.  In this case, I got in between all of the groomsmen with a telephoto lens and tried to capture the intense expression of the bride gazing into the grooms eyes during the wedding ceremony.  Her look is so powerful and it’s enhanced even more by framing her within the men in the foreground.

Rob Garland is the owner of Rob Garland Photographers, an award winning Charlottesville wedding photographer that specializes in wedding photojournalism and fine art printing. Rob prides himself on a classic, intuitive, heartfelt documentation with the utmost in visual integrity. He has documented many destination weddings throughout the U.S. and abroad as well as Charlottesville weddings at many of our outstanding local venues. Rob loves imagery that fails to go in and out of style and personal touches that make each wedding unique.

one moment – Courtney and Kip

 

As many of you know, I am attracted to reality in my photography.  It goes deeper than that – I want to capture your soul and print it on paper (I wish people would print more on true fine art papers…..it is starting to become a lost art for a generation tied to their phones).  I don’t blog too many of the “standard” wedding images showing the details (giving us a taste into how much you did or didn’t spend), the typical posed group photos, the bridal party being silly, etc.  Weddings are fun….a joy…..I wouldn’t trade my job for the world, but I just can’t repetitively show the same thing time and time again.  I have to have capture feelings.  It’s why I frequently blog images in black and white, to not distract.  I love to simplify.

This particular photo is an image where I was watching Courtney and Kip for reactions during their toasts.  Kip lost his mother not too long ago and when Courtney’s father started speaking about how proud she would be of her son, Kip couldn’t help but show some emotion.  Courtney leaned in to her new husband and softly gave him a kiss.

To me, this is what we celebrate.  Love.  There is no better example than the image below.  Kip is expressing love for his mom, Courtney is expressing love for her husband.  In the background, you can see the look of concern….the love of a friend.  All three examples wrapped into one image.

Enjoy.  I certainly did.

Wedding: The Omni Homestead

Rob Garland is the owner of Rob Garland Photographers, an award winning Charlottesville wedding photographer that specializes in wedding photojournalism and fine art printing. Rob prides himself on a classic, intuitive, heartfelt documentation with the utmost in visual integrity. He has documented many destination weddings throughout the U.S. and abroad as well as Charlottesville weddings at many of our outstanding local venues. Rob loves imagery that fails to go in and out of style and personal touches that make each wedding unique.

Monte Durham surprises Tina to “Say Yes to The Dress” – Omni Homestead Weddings

OK…it’s not every day that Monte Durham, Fashion director on TLC‘s “Say Yes to the Dress,” knocks on the door while the bride is getting ready to say yes to her dress.  This was a complete surprise to Tina.  Check out the moments below:

 

The Omni Homestead, our nations oldest resort, provided the setting for this wonderful afternoon.  It was so fun to hear Tina talk about how she watched “Say Yes to the Dress” and how it would be amazing if Monte Durham would stop by her wedding (she heard he was in town and actually stopped him to get a selfie earlier in the week).  Well, little did she know, he arrived at HER ROOM (!!!) and surprised everyone!  (On a side note, I really like that blazer!).  Tina’s reactions are priceless!  Many more to come!  🙂

Fine Art printing – Charlottesville Wedding Photographer

I do think Ansel Adams said it best when he discussed the importance of understanding the capture of an image by composing the subject as well understanding the light.

“The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.”

The capture is only a part of the image – the printing process has an arguably equal place in the showcasing of an image.  My first photography experiences were from film – and I worked with it for a long time – and still do.  My favorite styles of capture are those of photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson.  I loved not only his reality, but his idea of capturing “The Decisive Moment” was of great importance, showcasing great examples of layering within the composition of the photograph.  As a wedding photographer, that is my favorite approach and I personally think it is what is destined to last the test of time.  We are in an era now where many wedding photographers employ a commercial feel to their imagery and it takes away from the soul of the event…..in fact, everything can become so overwhelming, I dare to say there is limited capture of the soul.  It’s all about details, style shoots, etc.  Let me be clear, I am not knocking the quality of the imagery – it’s excellent.  I do think the work loses it’s essence if it becomes too commercial.  It’s a trend these days – we’ll see how long it lasts.  I would like to thank photographers like Jeff Ascough for his incredible work in keeping true wedding photography alive.  He is one of the few wedding photographers that constantly intrigues me when I look around the web.  I keep coming back to work like this.  I wanted to devote this post to showcase one image with two different styles of fine art printing – one black and white and one sepia toned image – along with the color version of the photograph.

Lets start by looking at a color image of Manisha and Narendra straight out of the camera.  I love this moment – the bride’s eyes looking at the groom with one of those magical gazes and I want to show you two other approaches to printing this file.

20140530 Manisha and Narendra-3

Let’s take the image into the darkroom:

20140530 Manisha and Narendra-2

As you can see, the image above allows the eye to focus on one point with a vignette added to maintain a strong center of interest.  I print with borders at times because it defines an ending point, especially on brighter highlight areas.  Every film has a different look and can be developed in different ways (push/pull processing, contrast filters, etc.) – I’ve always loved the darkroom because every image you get is unique.  There is no way to duplicate dodging and burning with contrast filters and have two prints just alike.  This is what helps many fine art prints maintain a high value among collectors.  If the landscape prints from Ansel Adams were done on a digital camera, he would not be known like he is today.  He was an excellent photographer with tremendous attention to detail, sometimes working on one print in his darkroom for a month.  Our company offers a very unique silver-halide printing process from our digital wedding files that showcase the integrity of a silver gelatin print.  These are simply the number one standard in photographic printing and allow the owner to have a truly unique piece of art.

A sepia-toned version is below:

20140530 Manisha and Narendra

The same image with three different printing approaches.  Stay tuned as we will soon launch a gallery on our site with all black and white fine art prints.

Rob Garland is the owner of Rob Garland Photographers, an award winning Charlottesville wedding photographer that specializes in wedding photojournalism and fine art printing. Rob prides himself on a classic, intuitive, heartfelt documentation with the utmost in visual integrity. He has documented many destination weddings throughout the U.S. and abroad as well as Charlottesville weddings at many of our outstanding local venues. Rob loves imagery that fails to go in and out of style and personal touches that make each wedding unique.